Suzanne Wrack was at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich tonight. Her verdict is in, and here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Sweden celebrate by bouncing around in front of their fans. A sea of yellow. Germany get into a huddle to lick their wounds. “It feels like every year I become convinced that Sweden will win a major tournament, and every year they don’t,” writes Kári Tulinius. “I told myself it wouldn’t happen this time ‘round. And yet, after a performance like this… I think they just might do it!”
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Some history has been made in the other game in Group C, too. Poland have won their first-ever match at a Euros final with a 3-2 win over Denmark. Sarah Rendell has the details of that. It means Group C finishes like this …
1. Sweden P3 W3 D0 L0 F8 A1 GD7 Pts 9
2. Germany P3 W2 D0 L1 F5 A5 GD0 Pts 6
3. Poland P3 W1 D0 L2 F3 A7 GD-4 Pts 3
4. Denmark P3 W0 D0 L3 F3 A6 GD-3 Pts 0
… with Sweden playing the runners-up of Group D in Zurich on Thursday night, and Germany waiting for the winners of Group D in Basel two days later.
That’s a proper statement by Sweden. Germany may have played the best part of an hour with just ten women, but they were reeling before Carlotta Wamser’s dismissal anyway. The Germans started fast, leading through Jule Brand’s early goal, and they could have had a couple more in a whirlwind first ten minutes. But once Stina Blackstenius equalised, the run of play turned dramatically, and it was all Sweden from there on in. Blackstenius led the line impressively, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd caused all manner of mayhem down the right, and Kosovare Asllani held everything together in the middle of the park. Sweden go into the quarters with the wind in their sail; Germany progress too, but they’ve got a few things to think about.
FULL TIME: Sweden 4-1 Germany
Sweden finish top of Group C! They’re worthy winners in Zurich. It’s Germany’s biggest-ever loss at the Euros.
90 min +1: A free kick hooked into the Swedish box. Some pinball. Eventually Hendrich swivels and whips towards the bottom left. Falk tips it around the post magnificently. But the flag pops up for offside earlier in the move anyway.
90 min: There will be two additional minutes.
89 min: Hendrich’s weak header back nearly lets Wangerheim tear clear on goal. As it is, Hendrich gets back to block the ball out for a corner. Bennison hoicks the set piece straight out of play. Germany really want to hear the full-time whistle right now.
87 min: A free kick for Sweden out on the left. Andersson sends it into the mixer. Berger rises highest to claim well. It’s been quite the mixed bag for the Germany keeper tonight.
85 min: A route-one launch by Berger down the inside-left channel. Falk races out of her box in the hope of clearing, but Cerci gets there first. Cerci loops over the out-of-position keeper, but wide left of the goal. No consolation.
84 min: Senss is replaced by Däbritz.
83 min: A free kick for Germany out on the left. Bühl, looking extremely frustrated, swings it to the far stick. Cerci takes a fresh-air swipe. No consolation.
82 min: Zigiotti Olme comes on for Angeldahl.
81 min: This is now Germany’s biggest defeat at the Euros. They’ve never before shipped four goals in a finals match.
GOAL! Sweden 4-1 Germany (Hurtig 80)
This is a great team goal. Janogy blazes down the left. She crosses long for Rytting Kaneryd, on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box. Rytting Kaneryd cushion-passes back infield for Hurtig, who flicks with almost contemptuous ease into the bottom right. Simple as that! Such a smooth move.
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78 min: Nüsken is replaced by Cerci.
76 min: Wangerheim spins infield from the left and switches play to Rytting Kaneryd, racing into the German box from the other flank. Rytting Kaneryd catches her first-time shot well, but it’s straight at Berger, who handles well.
75 min: A sense that if both teams could declare here and now, they would.
73 min: Angeldahl plays a careless backpass straight to Hoffmann, on the edge of the Swedish D. Hoffmann spins and aims a curler towards the top-left corner. Always wide and high, but it was a well-improvised effort nonetheless.
72 min: Janogy wins a corner down the left. Bennison curls it long. Hendrich heads it wide at the far stick. The whistle goes anyway, for an imaginary foul on Berger.
71 min: Sweden are surely topping this group, so there’s no point their running Blackstenius into the ground. Wangerheim comes on in her place.
70 min: Blackstenius scampers after a long pass down the right. Germany are woefully light at the back, but Minge does extremely well to race back and get ahead of the striker, intercepting and clearing.
68 min: Janogy jinks her way down the left and fizzes a dangerous ball through the German box. Just behind Blackstenius.
66 min: Rytting Kaneryd back-heels Holmberg into space down the right. A cross comes in. Blackstenius tries to flick a header goalwards at the near post but it’s deflected wide. A corner instead. Andersson takes. Berger flaps. Angeldahl leans back and scoops the ball over the bar. It’s not been a banner night for Berger.
64 min: Schüller makes way for Hoffmann.
62 min: Germany don’t look like getting back into this match. Sweden are happy enough to let them play it around the back, because they’re making no progress in advancing it up the park.
60 min: Lohmann hobbles about a bit, so play stops for a minute. She’s up again soon enough.
58 min: Bühl makes good progress down the left again. Both Bennison and Holmberg are afraid to get too close, else they get skinned. But Bühl has nobody up in support, and eventually runs out of road. The move fizzles out. Bühl is such an entertaining player, though. She nearly always makes something happen.
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56 min: Asllani springs back up with the intention to continue … but she’s hooked by her coach. She’s not particularly happy, but makes way for Hurtig.
55 min: Hendrich is fine to continue. When the game restarts, Linder barges Asllani in the back as the pair hare after a long ball down the Swedish right. Into the book she goes.
54 min: Hendrich is down in some pain, having been accidentally hoofed in the ribs by her own player Linder. On comes the physio. Time for everyone else to take on some liquid.
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53 min: … and it’s blootered clear by Bennison.
52 min: Bühl had the measure of Holmberg during the early exchanges, so perhaps she’s Germany’s best bet of getting back into this. And here she is romping down the left to win a corner off her opponent. Bühl to take it herself.
50 min: Rolfö is in the dugout with an ice-pack taped to her right knee. Given that, she doesn’t look in too much discomfort, so hopefully that’s a precautionary measure rather than anything likely to keep her out of the quarters.
49 min: This second half has started without really starting. Sweden have no reason whatsoever to push it.
47 min: Sweden are immediately on the front foot, winning a corner down the left. Asllani swings it in. Eriksson heads over harmlessly from eight yards.
Sweden get the second half underway. They’ve made two changes, replacing Rolfö and Björn with Sembrant and Janogy. Germany have swapped out two players as well, Hendrich and Lohmann coming on for Knaak and Freigang.
In tonight’s other Group C fixture, Poland are leading Denmark 2-0 at the break. Sarah Rendell has details of that one. Put all together, that means the table currently looks like this …
1. Sweden P3 W3 D0 L0 F7 A1 GD6 Pts 9
2. Germany P3 W2 D0 L1 F5 A4 GD1 Pts 6
3. Poland P3 W1 D0 L2 F2 A5 GD-3 Pts 3
4. Denmark P2 W0 D0 L3 F1 A5 GD-4 Pts 0
… and that as things stand, Sweden will play the runners-up of Group D in Zurich on Thursday evening, while Germany travel to Basel to take on the winners of Group D on Saturday.
HALF TIME: Sweden 3-1 Germany
This scoreline equals Germany’s biggest-ever defeat at the Euros, a 3-1 loss to Denmark in the third-place play-off in 1993. And their ten players still have another 45 minutes to negotiate. Will Sweden rewrite the history books tonight?
45 min +1: Angeldahl chests down in midfield and sends Asllani clear down the right. She’s one on one with the keeper … but eventually the whistle goes. Turns out the ball had hit the top of Angeldahl’s arm. That’s a generous free kick for Germany, one that most likely saved them shipping a fourth goal.
45 min: There will be two additional first-half minutes.
44 min: Berger races from her box and smacks another clearance straight to an opponent. This time Bennison receives the ball in the centre circle, but decides against going for long-distance glory, saving the out-of-position keeper some more embarrassment.
42 min: Sweden are just swanning around imperiously now. Germany chasing shadows. They desperately need the half-time whistle so they can regroup and reorganise.
40 min: Berger’s footwork tonight has been awful. While on walkabout, she blasts a simple clearance straight into Blackstenius, and the ball deflects into the path of Asllani, who should dispatch it into the unguarded net, but sends her shot sailing wide right. It should have been number four.
38 min: Rytting Kaneryd continues to be a nuisance down the right. She wins a corner. Rolfö swings it into the mixer. Berger claims confidently and sends Germany off on the counter. Bühl buys a ticket to the raffle from 25 yards, but it’s straight at Falk.
36 min: Well, this has gone pear-shaped for Germany in super-quick time. They looked in the mood to rattle in a few during the early exchanges. But since Sweden equalised, they’ve taken charge. And with their opponents down to ten, top spot is theirs for the taking. A draw would be enough for them tonight. Germany now need three goals if they’re to deny them.
GOAL! Sweden 3-1 Germany (Rolfö 34 pen)
Rolfö gives Berger the eyes, sending the keeper the wrong way as she passes into the bottom left!
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33 min: Nope. It was a close call, but Rytting Kaneryd was onside. The decisions stand.
RED CARD: Wamser (Germany)
32 min: The referee has no choice but to send Wamser off. Wamser sobs into her shirt. But hold on, will she be saved by VAR? Was there an offside in the build-up?
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Penalty to Sweden!
31 min: Rytting Kaneryd races down the right again. She opts to cut back again. But this time it’s the correct decision. She finds Rolfö, who shoots goalwards from 12 yards. Wamser, on the line, throws herself at the ball … and saves it. Trouble here!
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30 min: Blackstenius barges her way down the right, opens her body, and looks to ping a curler into the top-left corner. A bit too high. Then from the restart, Berger passes out straight to Rytting Kaneryd, who romps clear down the right. Rytting Kaneryd should shoot, but looks for Blackstenius in the middle. Her low cross is hooked clear by Linder. But it doesn’t really matter, because …
29 min: Rytting Kaneryd dribbles purposefully down the right and stands one up for Blackstenius. Knaak clears. Germany are reeling here.
27 min: Germany looked good for a few goals tonight until Blackstenius equalised. Since then, they’ve lost a little self-belief. Angeldahl wins a corner down the left. The set piece is cleared, but now it’s Sweden on top.
GOAL! Sweden 2-1 Germany (Holmberg 25)
The 18-year-old Holmberg barrels down the inside-right channel and into the box. Away from Bühl and Linder with ease. She enters the box and pulls her leg back to shoot. Linder, coming back at Holmberg, sticks her foot in. The ball takes a ludicrous deflection off both players and whistles into the top-right corner and the roof of the net! Berger had no idea where that ball was flying. A bit of a freakish finish but Holmberg made her own luck with a magnificently positive run.
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24 min: The pace drops a little, a couple of passes refuse to stick.
22 min: Nüsken is booked for a late clump into the back of Rolfö.
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20 min: Bühl and Rytting Kaneryd take turns to dribble down the German left touchline. Neither run amounts to much, but there were some tricky close-control skills on display. Bühl’s dragback and flick particularly impressive. These teams much more confident in attack than defence.
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18 min: Schüller and Nüsken combine cutely down the right, the latter’s cross only just evading Bühl in the middle. Germany come again, through Bühl down the inside-left. She shoots, Falk parries. The rebound doesn’t fall for Schüller. Germany look of a mind to restore their lead quicksmart.
16 min: A fun start to the match, though. Neither team look particularly solid at the back.
14 min: Berger didn’t make a move for that shot. Just stood there with one hand in the air, an ersatz tribute to George Graham’s Arsenal.
GOAL! Sweden 1-1 Germany (Blackstenius 12)
Blackstenius is fed the ball down the inside-right channel. She’s near the centre circle, but there are no German defenders within miles of her! They’re all out on the Swedish left flank. Blackstenius strides down the pitch, reaches the edge of the box, and threads a low drive across Berger and into the bottom left. Easy as that!
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11 min: Bühl is looking her usual menacing self. She set up that super-early chance for Brand with a run down the left; she tears down the same flank again, causing Holmberg all manner of problems. Sweden just about clear her cross.
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9 min: That goal put a huge smile on the face of German captain Giulia Gwinn, her leg in a brace, propped up in the dugout. Lovely to see the injury-plagued Bayern Munich star getting some enjoyment from the tournament at last.
GOAL! Sweden 0-1 Germany (Brand 7)
Schüller drops deep, quarterbacking in the centre circle. She rolls a pass down the right for Wamser, who shuttles it on to Brand, breaking into the box on the underlap. Brand calmly passes the ball across Falk and into the bottom left. What a glorious sweeping move.
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5 min: A really fast-moving, open start to this game. Brand wins a corner down the left. The set piece is hit long, then returned into the middle for Schüller, who heads over from six yards. The flag pops up for offside to save her blushes. Schüller missed from a yard out against Poland, but went on to score later, so perhaps this augurs well?
3 min: Holmberg makes good down the right and finds Asllani just inside the box. Asllani drags a shot across the face of goal from 12 yards. She should have worked Berger at the very least. Somewhere in the multiverse, it’s already 2-1.
2 min: Germany are on the front foot. Schüller juggles the ball on the left-hand edge of the D and pearls a volley towards the top-right corner. Falk is rooted to the spot, but the ball flies inches wide. That would have been a hell of a goal.
Germany get the match started. And within 17 seconds, Brand gets a shot away from the edge of the D. Straight at Falk. So nearly a sensational start.
The teams are out! Sweden in yellow and blue, Germany in second-choice red. A fine atmosphere at the Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich as everyone emerges from the tunnel. A real old roar. Flags a-fluttering. We’ll be off in a wee while.
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Germany have the upper hand over Sweden in the head-to-head. They beat the Swedes in both the 1995 and 2001 Euro finals. Throw in two semi-final victories (in 19917 and 2013) plus triumph in the 2003 World Cup final, and we have ourselves a lop-sided rivalry. It was goalless the last time the teams met, though, in a 2023 friendly, and a result like that will do for the Swedes here.
Sweden will finish top of Group C if they win or draw tonight. Germany have to win if they’re to finish in first place. The winners will play the runners-up of Group D in the quarter-finals. That’s England as things stand, but it could also end up being France or the Netherlands. Or even Wales, though things would have to get seriously trippy tomorrow night if that ends up happening. Whatever: Euro 2025 is going to get very real, very soon. Big fun awaits.
1. Sweden P2 W2 D0 L0 F4 A0 GD4 Pts 6
2. Germany P2 W2 D0 L0 F4 A1 GD3 Pts 6
3. Denmark P2 W0 D0 L2 F1 A3 GD-2 Pts 0
4. Poland P2 W0 D0 L2 F0 A5 GD-5 Pts 0
Sweden make five changes to their starting XI after the 3-0 win over Poland. Jonna Andersson, Magdalena Eriksson, Fridolina Rolfö, Hanna Bennison and Smilla Holmberg come in for Hanna Lundkvist, Amanda Nildén, Madelen Janogy, Amanda Ilestedt and Julia Zigiotti Olme.
Germany make just the one change following their 2-1 victory over Denmark. Laura Freigang replaces Linda Dallmann in attack. Their stricken captain Giulia Gwinn, who suffered a medial ligament injury in Germany’s opening game with Poland, is named as a sub, for the purposes of support and vibes.
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The teams
Sweden: Falk, Holmberg, Bjorn, Eriksson, Andersson, Angeldal, Asllani, Bennison, Kaneryd, Blackstenius, Rolfo.
Subs: Holmgren, Sembrant, Lundkvist, Nilden, Janogy, Hurtig, Jakobsson, Ilestedt, Zigiotti Olme, Wangerheim, Blomqvist, Enblom.
Germany: Berger, Linder, Knaak, Minge, Wamser, Nusken, Senss, Buehl, Freigang, Brand, Schuller.
Subs: Johannes, Hendrich, Gwinn, Lohmann, Dabritz, Zicai, Cerci, Dallmann, Kett, Hoffmann, Kleinherne, Mahmutovic.
Referee: Silvia Gasperotti (Italy).
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Preamble
Both teams have already qualified for the knockouts, so in that respect there’s nothing riding on this match. But! The winner of Group C will, most likely, face reigning champions England in the quarters, while the runner-up will find themselves in the same half of the draw as world champions Spain. Neither prospect sounds particularly palatable, so … define winning. Define running-up. Kick-off is at 8pm UK time. It’s on!
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